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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
Bess Rahner met Ehrich Weiss the summer of 1894 at Coney Island where both were performers—she a singing and dancing girl and he doing an escape act with his brother. Little did she know that this brash, confident young man would become Harry Houdini and she would be his wife. Mrs. Houdini, by Victoria Kelly, looks not only their life together, from their beginnings in traveling circuses to the worldwide acclaim that followed, but also at Bess’s life after Harry’s death in 1926. Kelly uses the freedom of fiction to go into the decade Bess spent looking for signs that he was reaching out to her from the other side.
He had made it publicly clear before his death that when he was gone, he was going to try to come back, through the communication of a private code he and Bess had established.
In this way Houdini was a bit of a conundrum because throughout his life he was an outspoken critic of psychics and anyone who said they could communicate with the dead. He attended séances and debunked spiritualists to the point that he was harassed by them. As a Jew he did not believe in the afterlife, but Bess, as a Catholic, firmly believed in heaven. Only his mother’s death seemed to temper something in him and as Kelly portrays him he does flirt with the belief that there is more to the world than we see.
I think there’s another plane of living right here where we’re standing. People who have been, people who have yet to be, what if they’re right here with us? And yet, most of us aren’t even aware of them.
At the same time, this is only one aspect of Mrs. Houdini. Kelly shifts between the years of failure and hardship, providing insight into Houdini’s rigorous work ethic and Bess’s contributions to their act, and the years of success as Bess tried to create a life of stability for them. From the beginning she was his most trusted advisor and knew what was real and what was illusion. By continuing the novel past Houdini’s death Kelly delves into the emotions felt by any woman whose life is spent in the shadow of a famous man.
In the three years since Harry’s death, she had become unmoored, searching for the sparks of her own identity while continuing to cling to Harry’s.
Mrs. Houdini does a good job of playing in the field of ‘wife-of’ historical fiction. Recent years have seen the wives of Hemingway, Poe, and Hawthorne (among others) being fictionalized in ways that are both laudatory and sad, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Mrs. Houdini. Kelly blends known details of the Houdinis’ lives with fictional what-ifs that veer from the facts for the sake of entertainment, but does so without making the spirited Bess disappear.
He had made it publicly clear before his death that when he was gone, he was going to try to come back, through the communication of a private code he and Bess had established.
In this way Houdini was a bit of a conundrum because throughout his life he was an outspoken critic of psychics and anyone who said they could communicate with the dead. He attended séances and debunked spiritualists to the point that he was harassed by them. As a Jew he did not believe in the afterlife, but Bess, as a Catholic, firmly believed in heaven. Only his mother’s death seemed to temper something in him and as Kelly portrays him he does flirt with the belief that there is more to the world than we see.
I think there’s another plane of living right here where we’re standing. People who have been, people who have yet to be, what if they’re right here with us? And yet, most of us aren’t even aware of them.
At the same time, this is only one aspect of Mrs. Houdini. Kelly shifts between the years of failure and hardship, providing insight into Houdini’s rigorous work ethic and Bess’s contributions to their act, and the years of success as Bess tried to create a life of stability for them. From the beginning she was his most trusted advisor and knew what was real and what was illusion. By continuing the novel past Houdini’s death Kelly delves into the emotions felt by any woman whose life is spent in the shadow of a famous man.
In the three years since Harry’s death, she had become unmoored, searching for the sparks of her own identity while continuing to cling to Harry’s.
Mrs. Houdini does a good job of playing in the field of ‘wife-of’ historical fiction. Recent years have seen the wives of Hemingway, Poe, and Hawthorne (among others) being fictionalized in ways that are both laudatory and sad, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Mrs. Houdini. Kelly blends known details of the Houdinis’ lives with fictional what-ifs that veer from the facts for the sake of entertainment, but does so without making the spirited Bess disappear.
wavering between 3 and 4 stars... i loved the idea of this book, liked it for the most part. their love story was more than a little unbelievable to me, so i wish i knew more of how much is true and what was made up. curious to read more about the houdinis now!
Kind of depressing. The Houdinis were kind of freaky. That's all I got.
This book was a light, easy read with good characterization -- if a little precious, but honestly sometimes I like having characters that I can easily root for -- and an interesting atmosphere. I liked the switch in timeline and how the earlier timeline slowly caught up to the later storyline. This made me want to learn more about the real Bess Houdini, so that was cool.
I picked this book up one evening while I was wasting time at Chapters. It was on the bargain table and the premise intrigued me. While I knew a little about Harry Houdini, I knew absolutely nothing about his wife, Bess. This work of fiction told their story well, jumping back and forth from their married life together to Bess living her life alone after Harry’s death. I liked the air of mystery around the book as Bess tried to contact Harry from beyond the grave and the little coincidences that maybe he was trying to reach her in return.
When Harry Houdini dies he vows to return to his wife Beatrice "Bess" with a message, and she is determined to receive it. She wants to see Harry again, and hopes he can come back to her. Despite the disbelief of her sister and sister in-law, Bess believes she is receiving coded messages from Harry through these photographs by a famous photographer, Charles Radley. Bess suspects Radley has a connection to Harry. As Bess tries to piece together Harry's "message" she recalls her whirlwind romance with him, and his obsession with not believing in the supernatural but wanting to believe, especially after his mother's death.
This was an interesting story and I was fascinated by Bess' story. I was amazed with her devotion to Harry and loyalty, despite the fact he neglects her at times putting his obsessions first. It's one of my favorite type of relationships to read about, because it's intriguing to see how loyal these people are. It was interesting to see Harry through his wife's eyes. His belief in the supernatural but wanting it to be real makes him a compelling person to learn about. My only problem with the novel is that I felt at times the author did more "tell" than "show", and I just didn't like the writing style. It was one the better books I read this month, though.
This was an interesting story and I was fascinated by Bess' story. I was amazed with her devotion to Harry and loyalty, despite the fact he neglects her at times putting his obsessions first. It's one of my favorite type of relationships to read about, because it's intriguing to see how loyal these people are. It was interesting to see Harry through his wife's eyes. His belief in the supernatural but wanting it to be real makes him a compelling person to learn about. My only problem with the novel is that I felt at times the author did more "tell" than "show", and I just didn't like the writing style. It was one the better books I read this month, though.
Harry Houdini was an interesting character. His wife spent 10 years waiting for him to contact her from the other side with a prearranged message. The premise of this book was that he was able to do so. The narrative alternated chapters of their life together with chapters of Bess after his death. Like many well written historical fiction novels, the line between fact and fiction blurred and it makes you want to do research into the subject matter.
Bess was an engaging character in the novel and I enjoyed reading her journey both with Harry and without.
Bess was an engaging character in the novel and I enjoyed reading her journey both with Harry and without.